Another year, another International Consumer Electronics Show behind us. Was 2015's one that will go down as a banner year in the annals of history? We didn't see any huge show-stopping announcements, nor surprise reveals of everyone's-talking-about-it hardware, but the show we did see unfold over the course of last week was still a totally solid offering, packed with lots of great phones, tablets, wearables, and accessories that all came together to place us on some solid footing as we get ready for the rest of this quarter's launches. As we start thinking about gearing up for MWC in ...

Last week we saw countless smartphone companies jockeying for a moment in the spotlight, as they all struggled to get their products some attention at a crowded trade show. Of course, there comes a point where you get big enough that you don't have to rely on some expo to get the public's attention, and there are few companies out there that can say they're as big as Microsoft. So even a week removed from CES, when Redmond comes strolling along with a couple new smartphones, we're sitting up and taking notice. That's just what the company's doing today, revealing the Lumia 435 and Lumia ...

It's been a while since we last had the chance of holding (testing, using, etc.) a Samsung-made Windows Phone. The South Korean manufacturer is comfortably leading the pack when it comes to smartphones powered by Google's mobile operating system, Android, but, according to recent reports, Samsung might be considering a comeback in the Windows Phone game. According to the Korea Times' unnamed sources, we can expect to see some Samsung Windows Phone 8.1 devices soon; these phone would allegedly be mid-rangers or lower-end devices being aimed at the cheaper, low-cost segment. The publication ...

CES 2015 is already starting to wind down, and though we've been able to check out a nice assortment of new products, there hasn't been much to share from the world of Windows Phone. Sure, we got those platform-agnostic Alcatel Onetouch Pixi 3 models, but nothing really high-end; anything like new Lumias will have to wait. Almost as if in a conciliatory gesture, Microsoft has decided to give us something to tide us over until its next major launch, and today announced plans to release new gold-hued special editions of the Lumia 830 and Lumia 930. Both the 830 and 930 will be coming out in ...

As you may recall, ten days ago I returned to my long-neglected Lumia 1020 for the holidays. This overdue reunion of contrarian nerd with fringe platform was meant to answer a question we get quite often in the Pocketnow Weekly mailbag: at the dawn of a new year, is Windows Phone still a world worth moving to (or even visiting)? In an atmosphere of delayed flagship launches and growing skepticism among some smartphone manufacturers, the question is more pertinent than ever. The answer, as it turns out, is yes — but it carries some very important qualifiers, and it's certainly not ...

It's been a long time coming, but smartphones that share the same hardware across disparate operating systems are finally starting to go mainstream. Sure, models like the HTC HD2 have managed to run nearly every OS under the sun thanks to a dedicated dev community, but we're talking commercial support here: like how HTC introduced that Windows Phone version of its One M8. Now Alcatel Onetouch is the latest to join that crew with a new tri-platform lineup of phones, as well as the arrival of a new, affordable smartwatch. The Pixi 3 can run your choice of Android, Firefox OS, or Windows ...

HTC may still have a couple rungs to climb on the smartphone manufacturer ladder before it's up there with companies like LG (to say nothing of Samsung), but 2014 has seen the company deliver some very attractive smartphones, interesting accessories, and hardware that crossed platform boundaries – not to mention an overdue return to tablets. What's next for HTC? Senior Global Online Communications Manager Jeff Gordon is talking about just that on Twitter today, and to hear the hype he's delivering, 2015 is going to be one big year. Gordon writes about being “overwhelmingly excited” ...

Where the heck is the Lumia 735? Ever since it launched back in September, we've been anticipating Microsoft's plans to make the phone available to shoppers in the US. FCC documentation sure seemed to support the idea of the 735 coming to Verizon, a theory backed up by separate rumors. As of a few weeks ago, the 735 found itself on a holding pattern on Microsoft's website, listed alongside other Lumia models and showing off its various color options, but with the note “available soon” in place of a price or any hard ETA. That was fine, and we were content to wait patiently for more ...

It may be too late for meaningful holiday gift-shopping at this late hour (and no, your whatever you can find at the local mini mart doesn't count), but the smartphone deals keep right on popping up. A few weeks back we spotted a very attractive offer for the Lumia 530, with the already-budget-priced smartphone selling for a mere $35. While that was great in its own right, today we learn about a better-equipped cousin of the 530 scoring a nearly-as-good offer for itself, with Radio Shack selling the AT&T Lumia 635 for as little as $40. This is the no-contract Go Phone version of the ...

For the past week now, we've been talking about issues the Lumia 535 has been having with its touchscreen, and while it sounded quite annoying, we were relieved to hear that Microsoft had acknowledged the problem and was developing a fix. By Friday, we had heard that the fix was nearly ready to go out, and users could expect to start seeing it arrive shortly before the end of the month, on December 27. As it turns out, you may not even have to wait that long, and today Microsoft confirms that its new Lumia 535 update is rolling out to users now. Sure enough, the touchscreen fix is in, and ...

We got this week started by sharing some unfortunate news about the Lumia 535, one of Microsoft's latest affordable Windows Phone models. Multiple reports had been turning up from users frustrated with the smartphone's touchscreen sensitivity, but there was hope: one of Microsoft's international arms reached out to a 535 owner on social media and mentioned that the company was developing an update aimed at correcting this glitch. That sounded great to us, but just when could we expect this fix to materialize? More good news: not much longer, with Microsoft reportedly working to get this ...

Yesterday we saw Microsoft prepping for wider distribution of the Lumia Denim firmware update for Lumia smartphones, following word of limited availability in select markets. It was progress, sure, but we craved more information: just when could the rest of us hope to see Denim arrive. Today Microsoft speaks up and shares an update about Denim's progress, but at the same time removes its fine-grained update status pages. The new statement gives us another overview of the Denim features to expect, but we know enough about those already – what about that ETA? You've got a little bit of ...

The Lumia 535 is Microsoft's latest smartphone, and while it may be most noteworthy for being the Lumia that finally ditched all its Nokia branding in favor of a pure-Microsoft approach, it's also a solid mid-ranger in its own regard. Or at least, it would be, if it weren't for the presence of an annoying little glitch. Users have reported issues with getting the phone's touchscreen input to function properly, specifically citing frustrations over taps going undetected, or the screen even being too sensitive for its own good. The good news is that salvation may be arriving soon, as ...

New Windows Phone handsets from Microsoft seem to emerge every few months. The Lumia 535 made its debut a little over a month ago, and back in September we saw the Lumia 830, 730, and 735 go official. While Microsoft may have called the 830 its “affordable flagship,” the specs really weren't up to what we typically consider flagship level – and really, that's the case for all these new models, positioned more as budget phones than anything with really jaw-dropping features or performance. So when can we expect a higher caliber of Lumia? Numerous sources have been suggesting the ...

Just last night we were thinking about that supposedly-canceled next-gen Microsoft Windows Phone handset that would have introduced a new “3D Touch” user interface, the smartphone codenamed McLaren. Some of that UI stuff might end up living on in Windows 10, but what of the hardware itself? Well, like we said, there have been pretty adamant rumors claiming that McLaren has been scrapped, with Microsoft moving on to other things. But even if the phone as a commercial product's not happening, images of a purported prototype have already leaked, revealing a very Lumia-1020-looking design ...

The Windows Phone handset codenamed McLaren isn't happening; despite all the effort put into its rumored “3D Touch” interface, Microsoft has apparently moved on from those hardware plans. But to hear a new report, aspects of the phone's software may survive and make their influence felt in the forthcoming release of Windows 10. One such feature is tipped to involve Live Tiles, and could offer a new “exploding,” “flyover tile” experience, developed under the name Mixview. While specifics about the implementation may easily change between now and when Windows 10 for phones starts ...

It's been a while since we last heard of Sprint's HTC 8XT Windows Phone -- when it was "demoted" to "basic phone" status -- let alone since we reviewed it and concluded it is/was a "midrange phone in flagship clothing". That being said, there are a lot of things to like about the phone, and some which we didn't necessarily got excited over. One of the things HTC 8XT owners did definitely not like about the device was the fact that it was still stuck on Windows Phone 8, with which it shipped out of the box. According to HTC's Twitter account, the Sprint HTC 8XT Windows Phone 8.1 update ...

We're already a week removed from Black Friday, but when you factor that in with the subsequent Cyber Monday deals, we could understand if you're still feeling a little burned-out from all these smartphone, tablets, and wearable offers. But the holiday shopping season rages on nonetheless, and if you're still looking to pick up some great deals on mobile electronics, you might want to take a look at what's one of the lowest prices we've ever seen for a major-name smartphone, as the already crazy-cheap Lumia 530 becomes even more affordable. A couple months back, when we were getting ready ...

It's been over two months now since we last looked at Microsoft’s global strategy for its voice-powered personal assistant, Cortana. Back then, we were hearing teasers out of France that suggested the service could soon find itself coming to the nation, following availability in the UK. Well, we're still not quite all the way to a full-blown release, but this week still brings us greatly expanded European Cortana access, as Microsoft brings an alpha version to users in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. What does that “alpha” business mean? Well, for the moment Cortana will only be ...

HTC sure looks like it's working on some very powerful new hardware. Well, maybe it's not yet clear just what all these devices are, but whether we're talking One M9 or this new model codenamed Hima (if they aren't simply the same thing), there's a lot in the rumored specs to like. This year HTC already gave us a very powerful Android, the One M8, and several months later saw fit to release a version of the handset running Windows Phone; will history repeat itself? We're still far too distant from all this to have a confirmed answer, but early reports certainly suggest it could be a ...

It's been quite a while now since we've talked about Windows Phone and Huawei in the same breath. The predominantly Android OEM has released a few models for the platform in the past, and when Microsoft was welcoming new manufacturers to its ecosystem back in February, it mentioned Samsung, HTC, and Huawei as a few of its continuing partners. Maybe the most recent development with Huawei and WP occurred in March, when we heard company execs discussing plans for an upcoming dual-boot Windows Phone/Android handset – one that never did manage to happen. So what went wrong? Why the sudden ...

After one too many leftover turkey sandwiches, topped-off with near-lethal doses of gravy, Thanksgiving – and the lazy weekend that follows it – is over for another year. If you're like many shoppers, you took a break from the food on Friday, bundled up against the cold, and headed out to try snagging yourself a Black Friday deal or two. And while all the Black Friday savings may be behind us, there's one last hurrah to be had, as retailers take one more big stab at getting your holiday shopping dollar, offering today's Cyber Monday savings. Now, some of the deals we mentioned for ...

A couple weeks back, it was time for the latest Lumia Windows Phone handset to go official, but this time the handset wasn't arriving as a Nokia device – with Microsoft's acquisition of the manufacturer's devices and services division long completed, the stage was finally set for the launch of a Microsoft-branded Lumia: the 535. The very budget-focused model was set to start rolling out to key markets in Europe and Asia, but at the time of Microsoft’s announcement we didn't have a ton of specifics. This week the Lumia 535's story starts becoming a little more clear, as we see the ...

It's that time of year again: bargain-hunters bundle up for a long night out in the cold, armed with a vacuum flask full of coffee and a checklist of the stores they'll be hitting. Retail employees let out a resigned sigh as they prepare to begin a single shift that starts somewhere around Wednesday afternoon and lasts through Saturday morning. And if you're anything like us, you're staying warm at home, probably watching way too much Netflix, and hoping to snag a few good deals online. That's right – it's Black Friday time. What used to be a single day of retail hedonism has mutated ...

With autumn very much making its presence felt, and the last days of 2014 looming ahead, the mobile electronics market is about to make another of its regular shifts, temporarily moving away from a time dominated by launch after launch, and instead focusing more on getting these products into our hands. We've just come off a couple big months of launches, led in by IFA in early September, and peppered with iPhone, iPad, and Nexus announcements in the weeks that followed. But now with the holiday season arriving as an unavoidable juggernaut, we're about to see the steady flow of new devices ...